Before this subject gets buried, I’ll throw my favorite job iterations in for the sake of discussion:

PLD: 6.0-6.2
WAR: SB
DRK: HW
DRG: ShB
SAM: 6.0 (removing kaiten actually ruined the job)
MNK: 5.0-5.3
NIN: ShB (didn’t really play it before ShB)
BRD: SB by FAR. Damn near flawless
MCH: I have no favorite iteration.
DNC: ShB. Burst was more interesting due to melee/AoE procs during burst
BLM: tie between ShB and SB
RDM: ShB
SMN: ShB
SCH: SB
WHM: SB (this is more commentary on how bad WHM has always been than how good it’s ShB iteration was)
AST: SB. I miss old cards and buff extensions.

14’s job design USED to be second to none. I remember back in SB I got a friend of mine into the game specifically by talking about how fun jobs were. That’s is not the case at ALL anymore. In fact, it’s so bad at this point that I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who wants anything other than a visual novel.

Though I enjoyed more ShB versions of many jobs, on a more macro level I preferred job design in Stormblood. .